Tammy and Chris Klein, neighbors of the James and Julie Vollmer family, recall memories of them Sunday. / Jay Pickthorn / Argus Leader

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Tammy Klein placed a hand across her face and left the kitchen table to grab some tissues. She sat down and wiped tears from her eyes while reminiscing about her lost but not forgotten neighbors, the Vollmers.

“They were the first people we met when we moved in,” her husband, Chris Klein, said. “It was the Fourth of July, and we were first moving in and they were having a party. They literally swept us away from the moving truck and invited us over. Nicest neighbors I’ve ever met.”

James and Julie Vollmer and two of their children, Alyssa, 16, and Caleb, 13, died just before dusk Saturday in a one-vehicle crash west of Sioux Falls on Interstate 90.

Another daughter, Brittany, was in Orange City, Iowa, where she is a sophomore at Northwestern College, at the time of the accident.

Jim Vollmer, 52, was driving eastbound on I-90 in a 2005 Ford Explorer Sport Trac near mile marker 394 when the vehicle left the roadway and entered the median, according to a news release from the South Dakota Highway Patrol.

It struck a cable guardrail and continued to slide in the snow-filled median and down an embankment where there are two bridges, one eastbound and one westbound on I-90, and crossed over a dry creek bed. It vaulted from one side of the embankment and struck the other side before coming to rest.

Vollmer died at the scene, as did back-seat passengers Alyssa Vollmer, 16, and Caleb Vollmer, 13. Julie Vollmer, 48, the front-seat passenger, was taken to Sanford hospital via helicopter, where she died of injuries from the crash.

All four occupants were wearing seat belts.

The accident was surprising to Chris Klein, who described Jim Vollmer as “the epitome of a safe, cautious driver.

“(Their vehicle) had to have a mechanical problem or something,” he said.

Tight-knit family

Chris and Tammy Klein described the neighborhood as a “tight-knit community” and said the Vollmer family was just as tight.

Brittany baby-sat for the Kleins before going off to college.

“It breaks my heart to know that she’s alone,” Tammy Klein said.

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Klein said she thinks the family was on the way back from their son Caleb’s basketball game in Salem the night the crash occurred.

Both Alyssa and Caleb played basketball at Sioux Falls Christian.

“They were always active, the kids were always active. They would shoot hoops in the driveway. Alyssa was working on her basketball skills, and she was playing volleyball this year,” Klein said.

At Sioux Falls Christian, students, faculty and parents gathered Sunday afternoon to mourn the loss of Caleb and Alyssa, who attended school there, and their parents during a gathering at the school.

“We have a lot of kids here today, and a lot of parents here today that are mourning and grieving over lost classmates and lost friends,” said Jay Woudstra, Sioux Falls Christian superintendent.

Woudstra added: “If you could have picked your children’s friends, you would have wanted your kids to be friends with Caleb and Alyssa.”

Taking care of pets

Chris Klein said one of his fondest memories of the family happened two years ago while they were on vacation.

“We had a couple of fish tanks, and Caleb would watch our fish when we would go on vacation,” he said.

“Two years ago, I must have given him the wrong key, and they had to call us while we were out in Wall, of all places, because they couldn’t get in the house to feed the fish. They ended up calling a locksmith to rescue our fish.”

Another neighbor, Jeanie Miller, is caring for the Vollmer family’s shih tzu, Maya, until family members decide what to do with the dog.

Neighbors called police to rescue Maya from the Vollmer home once they learned of the incident.

“(Maya) looks at the door every time she hears a sound,” Miller said.

Health care jobs

Jim Vollmer worked for Avera Behavioral Health.

Lindsey Meyers, director of communications for Avera McKennan Hospital and University Health Center, said the staff at Avera are “deeply saddened” by his loss.

“Jim was an outstanding staff member of Avera Behavioral Health. Our sincere condolences go out to the family,” she said.

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Julie Vollmer worked for Sanford Health in the post-partum section of The Birth Place, according to Kristen Thorkelson, marketing adviser at Sanford.

“We are incredibly saddened by the loss of our long-time nurse Julie Vollmer,” said Sanford media director Stacy Jones in a news release. “Julie was an exceptional mentor and leader in The Birth Place.”

Julie Vollmer helped make sure Klein was comfortable when she gave birth to her now 4-year-old child.

“When Chris mentioned to Julie that we were on their way to the hospital for the birth of our child, she made sure to secure me the big room in the corner,” Klein said.

Church mourns loss

Kirby Wilcoxson, pastor at Trinity Baptist where the Vollmers attended church, said they were longtime members, and the loss is a huge one for the church family.

“It’s hard to imagine what church will be without them here,” he said. “People love them here. All of life is a gift, but it’s also fragile, and we control so little of it.”

Miller, the neighbor helping care for the Vollmers dog, also remarked on their faith.

They were “gentle, spiritual and solid-rock type of people,” she said.